Alcademicstag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-16898562019-08-19T11:36:53-07:00The study of booze with Camper English.TypePadToronto Cocktail Conference Recaptag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da2088340240a4a17a75200d2019-08-19T11:36:53-07:002019-08-19T12:05:23-07:00A recap of the unique aspects of the Toronto Cocktail Conference and a few highlights. Camper English

I've mentioned it on Twitter and elsewhere, but this small conference is doing a few things I really like, that are a bit different from other cocktail conferences:

All speakers must stick around to do mentoring sessions with conference attendees. Speakers weren't allowed to just pop in for talks and fly back out right away. This happens often at other conferences- you see a speaker but never get to speak with them.

One price includes all. For $150 CDN attendees could attend any of the seminars over three days, subject to capacity. It also included activations, which were mostly cocktail tastings from larger brands upstairs at the Drake, and spirit tastings from smaller distilleries downstairs. There were also cocktail competitions and parties where drinks were available for sale.

Great selection of speakers, both local and a few folks like myself flown in for it.

Like other conferences mostly not in the cocktail space, they emailed out their Code of Conduct to attendees and speakers.

Speakers weren't allowed to stream their own sessions or record them to post online later, in order to be respectful of people who bought tickets to be in the room.

One night there was no programming at the conference hotel specifically to encourage attendees to go out and visit the local cocktail bars.

My talk about CocktailSafe topics went great! I was scheduled as the first talk of the conference, without any other seminars happening at the same time. They even simulcast it to the upstairs area as the seminar room was at capacity.

The feedback on the seminar was terrific, and I talked to more than a dozen people who attended it and wanted to say hello or talk more about certain topics it brought up, both in my mentoring sessions and just hanging out all week.

A note from each seminar I attended:

Round Building, Revised: With new tools and techniques including big ice, ice stamps, slushie machines, and cocktails on tap, the order and methods used for building rounds of cocktails has changed significantly over the last even five years.

Cocktail Chemistry 101: If you want X liters of batched cocktail, you can't just add up the volumes of the component parts; much like how 1 liter of sugar plus 1 liter of water doesn't equal 2 liters of simple syrup when combined.

Bitter/Sweet - A Proudly Uncomfortable History of Rum and Drink in the Caribbean: One thing producers and marketers of rum can do to better acknowledge the role of enslaved people in the history of rum is to de-emphasize the "plantation owner as rum blending genius" narrative/messenging that many brands have used.

Dealers Choice: The Art of No Menu: It's important to develop scripts to quickly find out what customers are seeking. Each bar will have "house favorites" that they'll tend to make when certain keywords like "herbaceous" or "floral" are used. The order takers should always decide on the drink, not hand off the descriptions to the bartenders assembling them as that leads to miscommunication. (This talk did nothing to change my belief about no-menu bars that no matter what you order, they make you a Boulevardier.)

Bartending Techniques 101: The guest is always right: Policies should be in place for conflict resolution/escalation at each bar, with the goal of these policies to support and empower the staff rather than to pass every conflict/request along to management, for example.

Kitchen Techniques Behind Bars: The Aviary's Micah Melton recommends for those people getting into more scientific/kitchen techniques starting with equipment - scale to measure by weight, whip cream siphons, then circulators and sealers.

I also had a great time running around to bars in town. I was able to visit:

Civil Liberties

Mulberry Bar

Pretty Ugly

Bar Raval

Alo bar

Bar Chef

Mother (still thinking about that Gibson)

Shameful Tiki Room

Thanks to the TOCC crew and the bars of Toronto for a great time had by me! A few pics from my drinking adventures are below.

Camper English in Top Ten Nominees for 2019 Spirited Awardstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da2088340240a4b61707200b2019-06-20T12:21:06-07:002019-06-20T12:21:06-07:00I'm pleased to announce that I'm among the ten nominees for a Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award this year for Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer. Also, my other website CocktailSafe.org is up for Best Cocktail and Spirits Publication. The full list of finalists in the writing and media categories...Camper English

I'm pleased to announce that I'm among the ten nominees for a Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award this year for Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer. Also, my other website CocktailSafe.org is up for Best Cocktail and Spirits Publication.

The full list of finalists in the writing and media categories is here.

The nominees will be whittled down to four finalists on June 24, then the winners will be announced July 20, 2019.

Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer

Great journalism is one of the best ways to communicate to the general public the value and significance of great bars, bartenders, cocktails and related products. This award recognizes an outstanding author (magazine, newspaper, online media) who highlights bars, bartenders, cocktails, spirit reviews and drink trends in the industry.

An All-Star Lineup (Including Me) at the Toronto Cocktail Conference in Augusttag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da2088340240a461579d200c2019-05-30T08:45:53-07:002019-05-30T08:45:53-07:00The Toronto Cocktail Conference features free mentorship sessions with its seminar speakers. Camper English

They are doing a few things differently at this conference from others. In the first place, they require speakers to hang around - no flying in, giving a talk, and flying out right after. Part of the reason for this is that they're also running a Mentorship Program where attendees can schedule time with the speakers for 15 minute one-on-ones.

At TOCC, we have created a mentorship program that we are really excited about. The mentoring is included in all TOCC wristbands. Many of our incredible speakers have volunteered their time for this program. You will be given the opportunity to sit down for fifteen minutes one-on-one with these industry leaders to have a conversation and to ask them whatever it is that you are wanting to learn about.

Enrolment for the mentorship program will take place the day before they occur. You can sign up for a Tuesday mentoring session by coming into Registration on the Monday. You can sign up for a Wednesday mentoring session by coming into Registration on the Tuesday. There, you will have the opportunity to sign up to speak with the Mentors at a set time. During that time, you can grab a cup of coffee with the Mentor and start up conversation. We are working with on a first-come first-serve basis and you must enrol in person at Registration to secure your spot.

And just look at the list of speakers! I'm excited to be among them. Hope to see you there.

Announcing the CocktailSafe Safety Postertag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da2088340240a45cd3c7200c2019-05-11T11:19:52-07:002019-05-11T11:19:52-07:00Announcing a cocktail safety poster that supports the mission of CocktailSafe.org.Camper English

As you hopefully know, I, Camper English, am also the founder of CocktailSafe.org, a website about safer cocktail ingredients and techniques.

On the Support page, you'll see you can donate to the project (even make a monthly recurring donation), hire me to give talks (note: they've been really well received so far!), or work with us to do menu/drink safety reviews.

But this week, thanks to suggestion by Dehron Hite-Benson (who also designed it in Photoshop from my janky Excel file) we are making available for sale a safety poster.

The poster contains information on the top 20+ safety concerns in the bar, including tobacco, liquid nitrogen, activated charcoal, and homemade tonic water.

It is written for United States audiences as it includes some mentions of ingredients that are illegal in the US but not elsewhere. (Thus we're only mailing it to US addresses for now; perhaps in the future we'll develop an international version.)

The poster measures 11 x 17 inches and is printed on 80-pound unlaminated paper; just the right size for the back office, storage room, or walk-in freezer door.

I hope you'll help support CocktailSafe by purchasing one - or several - for your bar. We can also do a custom print run/bulk mailing if you're a brand or larger company.

Camper English Speaking at Invasion Montreal in Maytag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da2088340240a4550e8e200c2019-04-29T09:01:00-07:002019-04-19T16:01:38-07:00I'll be headed to Montreal for the first time in a while (make that a very long while - the last time was for a rave) to give a talk at the Invasion Montreal cocktail conference. I'll be speaking on Pro Day, meant for professional bartenders. Luckily my talk is...Camper English

I'll be headed to Montreal for the first time in a while (make that a very long while - the last time was for a rave) to give a talk at theInvasion Montreal cocktail conference.

I'll be speaking on Pro Day, meant for professional bartenders. Luckily my talk is in English, a language named after me.

I'll be combining some topics from CocktailSafe with a tasting of Italian amari and vermouths.

Delights and Dangers in the Cocktail World

This seminar will pair information about controlled ingredients and risky techniques used in the bar world with a tasting of delicious Italian liqueurs and vermouths. Many of these products contain limited ingredients including wormwood, quinine, and/or rhubarb that will serve as jumping off points for discussion about what plant products are safe, how much of each can be used, and where information about their legality is found. We’ll also discuss ingredients not in these spirits but sometimes used in the bar including tobacco, activated charcoal, and sassafras and whether they’re illegal or just ill-advised. We’ll talk about some risky techniques like foraging, fat washing, and chilling with liquid nitrogen, and finish with a discussion of allergen-activating and medicine-interacting ingredients like orgeat and grapefruit that are only a problem for some. Come sample safely and learn about danger!

Announcing the Launch of CocktailSafe.orgtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da208834022ad39aab27200c2019-02-08T07:41:45-08:002019-02-08T07:41:45-08:00Announcing a new website dedicated to safety in cocktail ingredients and techniques, CocktailSafe.org. It has been a lot of hard work and there is much more to do, but today we are live! The site was covered in a story in today's New York Times.Camper English

Announcing a new website dedicated to safety in cocktail ingredients and techniques, CocktailSafe.org.

It has been a lot of hard work and there is much more to do, but today we are live!

Bitter Ingredient Flavors and Use from Martini Vermouth Masterstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da208834022ad37d1805200d2018-07-03T10:10:00-07:002018-07-03T10:10:00-07:00A lot of bits and bites of information about bittering agents used in vermouths and aperitivo bitters from some people who know a lot about them. Camper English

At this year's Bar Convent Brooklyn, I had the opportunity to sit down with Ivano Tonutti, Master Herbalist for Martini & Rossi (and Bacardi products generally) and Giuseppe "Beppe" Musso, Master Blender of Martini & Rossi.

The timing was excellent, as I am preparing to give a talk on bitter ingredients for Tales of the Cocktail, and they were in town promoting the newish Martini & Rossi Riserva Speciale Bitter Liqueur.

The Bitter is part of the new premium Riserva line, along with Rubino (red) and Ambratto (white) vermouths. We spoke primarily about the new Bitter and and plants used in the Riserva line; but in some cases we were generalizing beyond that. So please consider this general information rather than super specific to any one product.

General Stuff

The goal in using different bittering agents is to create a rounded bitter experience with multiple parallel bitters rather than a single-note bitter.

When speaking about how different bittering agents impact the flavor, Tonutti would intuitively point to certain parts of his face, indicating where the individual bitter most impacts the palate - for example cinchona is a singular bitterness felt most in the far back of the mouth, different artemisia species were more forward. Gentian and rhubarb root impact the middle of the mouth more. It's interesting to see as we know the "tongue map" is false but yet we feel the impact of different bitter flavors in different parts of the mouth.

They use all dried herbs, rather than fresh, for all the many Bacardi products (including things like Bombay, etc.) with the exception of some fresh citrus peels in Oxley gin. Dried herbs are used to ensure consistency and can be more easily measured for water content, etc.

All these bitter agents are infused rather than distilled into products (we're talking about the Riserva line).

They use only yellow gentian root - not the blue stemless gentian that a few producers use. They prefer French gentian as it's particularly bitter and more aromatic than from other places. They say the blue gentian is not super bitter, and it can be thought of more like an herb with root rather than just the root.

Holy thistle is used in salads. In their products, it's used to impart mouthfeel, not bitterness. It is used in most of Martini's products.

Dandelion - Leaves, not roots, are used. In production, leaves must be dried immediately after picking.

Roman Chamomile - The bitterness of it depends on the extraction technique (lower ABV extraction is better for bitterness in general, they say) and the concentration. (I asked about this as I've made chamomile infusions in the past and none were bitter.)

Artemisia

Between the Rubino and Ambratto there are different ratios of the three artemisia plants used - absinthia, pontica, and vulgaris. (grand/common, lesser/small, mugwort)

Absinthium - boldest, bitterest, with a delicate herbal flavor

Pontica - herbal and floral, a signature note of Martini vermouth, top note

Vulgaris (aka mugwort) - aromatic, with a different and milder expression of bitterness.

Barks

As noted, Cinchona bark gives a back-palate discreet bitterness.

Columba bark is an aromatic bitter with mid-palate bitterness.

Angostura bark is between cinchona and columba in its bitterness.

Red cinchona (succirubra) is more bitter than yellow, with higher amounts of quinine, but they describe the flavor as more boring.

Yellow cinchona (calisaya) they get from Ecuador. It is slightly aromatic, but there is less of it available on the market. This is used in Ambratto and probably other products.

Safety Stuff

The amount of thujone in artemisia and quinine in cinchona bark are regulated. They say that their approach to this is to get as far under the legal limits of the active substances as possible. For example, their artemisia providers grow a strains of the plants with super low thujone content, and though they may be plants like grand wormwood that supposedly have a lot of it, they use varieties that don't. Thus if the legal limits of thujone were ever lowered, or as in the case of the US where the legal limit is lower than in the EU, they don't have to worry as they're not close to the limits.

For quinine, there is a legal limit of 83 ppm allowed. That is just for quinine, not for quinidine and the other (two, I believe) active alkaloids present in cinchona bark. Tonutti said that rather than counting just the quinine, they keep the total number of all the alkaloids under the 83 ppm limit.

Calamus is banned in the US and in Australia by name, meaning you cannot use it in a product's formulation at all, while in Europe and other countries, you may use the plant as long as the beta asarone levels are kept below a certain amount. [They noted the nonsensical nature of this, as if the problem with calamus is beta asarone, they why not limit the beta asarone?] Thus there are formula differences in some of their products in different countries. They also keep the beta asarone way below the legal limits in Europe anyway.

This may all seem like random stuff to you, but it was extremely helpful for the talk I'm preparing!

For those of you new to these products, here's the basic info from the brand:

RISERVA SPECIALE BITTER

The new Bitter joins the Riserva Speciale Rubino and Riserva Speciale Ambrato as part of a dedicated craft of exceptional Italian Aperitivi for bartenders and drinks enthusiasts. To develop the new Riserva Bitter, MARTINI & ROSSI used 100% natural ingredients and the original 1872 recipe, created by MARTINI & ROSSI founder Luigi Rossi, as their inspiration. MARTINI & ROSSI Master Herbalist, Ivano Tonutti, has carefully selected three rare botanicals (Saffron, Angostura and Columba), to deliver a unique richness and complexity to its taste profile through different dimensions of bitterness. The Bitter is also rested in the same Tino cask that is used for MARTINI & ROSSI Riserva Speciale Vermouth di Torino extracts and shares the vermouth’s common botanical, Italian Artemisia, allowing its unique complex bitter taste to perfectly complement it. ($26.99)

RISERVA SPECIALE RUBINO

The small parcels for full-bodied Langhe DOC Nebbiolo wines used to create MARTINI & ROSSI RISERVA SPECIALE RUBINO are blended with extracts of Italian Holy Thistle and Red Sandalwood from Central Africa to deliver a bright ruby red vermouth, which inspired the name of the expression. The delicate balance of botanicals creates a full-bodied herbal and complex style of Vermouth di Torino with a long aftertaste. ($14.99)

Ambrato packshotRISERVA SPECIALE AMBRATO

The floral and aromatic blend of small parcels of Moscato d’Asti DOCG wines, used to create MARTINI & ROSSI RISERVA SPECIALE AMBRATO, produces a beautifully honeyed Vermouth di Torino. The yellow Cinchona bark from Ecuador and Chinese Rhubarb create a light bitter taste profile that aromatizes and elevates the flavors of the wines. ($14.99)

Black Cocktail Alternatives to Activated Charcoal tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e553b3da20883401bb09fdd6df970d2018-03-23T10:04:31-07:002018-03-23T10:04:31-07:00While one could add a medication-interaction warning about activated charcoal, like an allergen label on a drink menu, there are other ways to color a drink black that don’t require a scary-sounding note. SevenFifty Daily asked bartenders around the country for cocktail-darkening alternatives and learned that black sesame seeds, cuttlefish ink, and black food coloring are among the ingredients being used.Camper English

While black cocktails may be extremely Instagram-worthy, the activated charcoal often used to give the drinks their inky hue could have serious health consequences. Activated charcoal can adsorb oral medications (and poisons, in the case of drug overdoses, for which it’s commonly used by emergency room doctors) so that the drugs never reach the bloodstream. It’s an uncomfortable fact that the sexy obsidian-colored old-fashioned you serve to a customer may affect the medication that person has taken shortly before, or after, imbibing.

While one could add a medication-interaction warning about activated charcoal, like an allergen label on a drink menu, there are other ways to color a drink black that don’t require a scary-sounding note. SevenFifty Daily asked bartenders around the country for cocktail-darkening alternatives and learned that black sesame seeds, cuttlefish ink, and black food coloring are among the ingredients being used.